,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #eedf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ah1 #bjah    
,mr4 ,knight introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a      
,,bill  ,to authorize the use of certain
 ,department of ,defense funds for      
combating opioid trafficking and abuse  
in the ,united ,states4  #a4 ,findings2 
sense of ,congress  7a7 ,findings       
,congress makes the following findings3 
7#a7 ,over the past #ae years1 the rise 
in opioid use in the ,united ,states has
 grown exponentially4  7#b7 ,according  
to the ,office of ,national ,drug       
,control ,policy1 the number of deaths  
related to opioids in the ,united       
,states in #bjaf was #db1bfi4  7#c7     
,addiction and misuse of prescription   
opioids continues to rise4 ,according to
 the ,office of ,national ,drug ,control
 ,policy1 in #bjaf1 #aa4e million people
 misused prescription opioids4  7#d7    
,the predominant amount of precursors   

for fentanyl production are illicit     
trafficked from ,china4  7#e7 ,the      
,office of ,national ,drug ,control     
,policy is the lead agency for          
confronting the epidemic of opioid      
addiction and trafficking in the ,united
 ,states4  7#f7 ,the ,department of     
,homeland ,security is the lead agency  
in securing ,united ,states borders from
 illicit trafficking4  7#g7 ,the        
,department of ,defense plays a vital   
supporting role in addressing the       
illicit nature of the opioid epidemic   
through intelligence analysis1          
education1 and assistance to other      
departments and agencies in dealing with
 this challenge4  7b7 ,sense of         
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that-- 7#a7 the ,department of ,defense 
should provide support for interagency  
efforts to combat the national opioid   
epidemic2 and  7#b7 the role of the     
,department of ,defense is critical to  
identifying transnational criminal      
organizations that allow illicit opioids

 to enter the ,united ,states4  #b4     
,department of ,defense support for     
combating opioid trafficking and abuse  
,of the amounts authorized to be        
appropriated for the ,department of     
,defense for ,national ,guard           
counterdrug programs for fiscal year    
#bjai1 #bj1jjj1jjj may be used to       
provide support for ,united ,states     
interagency efforts to combat opioid    
trafficking and abuse in the ,united    
,states4